Chains
by uselessfork
Summary: In which Kushina survives the Kyuubi attack, Sasuke is adopted by the Uzumaki clan, and Sakura takes it upon herself to teach Kakashi social cues. A 'Kushina lives' AU exploring the butterfly effect which her survival could have had on the Naruto universe and the characters within it. Rated M for language and mature/violence themes, and will eventually contain pairings.
1. Chapter 1

If there was one thing Kushina had learnt when it came to dealing with twelve year old boys, it was that compromise was futile. Especially if the boy in question was as overexcited, fast, and downright unpredictable as Naruto. In fact, on the morning of Naruto's academy graduation exam, Kushina skipped any pretense of bargaining with the kid, and simply body flickered behind him to catch him mid-jump, swing him into the nearest chair, and demand that he sit still for _one minute_ while he finished his breakfast.

"Honestly, Naruto," she sighed fondly, ruffling his hair, "you should take a leaf out of Sasuke's book and learn to be a bit composed every now and then."

The Uchiha in question merely smirked at this, shooting an amused glance at Naruto from across the table when he thought Kushina wasn't watching. Outwardly composed and unperturbed as always, Sasuke had received the announcement of his imminent graduation exam without batting an eyelid - a reaction which stood in stark contrast to Naruto's. The day they had both been announced as eligible candidates for the exam, Naruto had let out a crow of delight and dragged Sasuke halfway across town to Ichiraku's to celebrate, according to Sasuke. They had been home so late that day that by the time they stepped back over her threshold, Kushina had been about ready to kill them herself.

"Ne, Kaasan, can we have ramen for dinner tonight after I blitz the exam?" Naruto asked excitedly, twisting around in his chair to blink hopeful blue eyes up at his mother.

"Oi, dobe, we're not getting ramen again." Sasuke spoke up bluntly. "It's our turn to cook dinner tonight."

Naruto pouted for a moment, but at the sight of Sasuke rolling his eyes he quickly dropped the subject, choosing instead to launch into a discussion with Sasuke about whether he _really_ needed to wear those arm guards all the time. Kushina let their argumentative banter fade into the background, absentmindedly moving to stand by the kitchen window, gazing out into the back garden. The blonde barely seemed to notice, so wrapped up was he in insisting that Sasuke couldn't possibly be taken seriously as a shinobi if he was wearing 'those weird glove things'. Kushina kindly neglected to remind Naruto of his own taste in clothes, who would surely be wearing clashing shades of orange that day if Sasuke hadn't hidden all of his jumpsuits during an argument the previous month. Sure, she knew exactly where he'd hidden them, but that wasn't the point - if Sasuke hadn't gotten rid of those things, she would have had to herself sooner or later.

If Kushina was honest with herself, Sasuke was an absolute godsend sometimes. She hadn't expected that the short tempered Uchiha would be so patient with Naruto (despite clearly finding him somewhat exasperating at times), but since he'd moved in with them she had already noticed a significant difference in Naruto's attitude towards helping around the house. From the moment Sasuke had set foot in the Uzumaki residence, even as a little snip of an eight year old, he had insisted on having chores. It hadn't taken long for him to convince Naruto, mostly through subtle psychological manipulation and an endless supply of underhanded scathing comments ("not that anyone could expect a dobe like you to do chores"), that he should do the same.

Though he was decidedly reserved a lot of the time, Kushina really couldn't complain about Sasuke's attitude. Yes, he could be a brat - but Kami, so could her own son. Sasuke definitely had his darker moments - days when he seemed disconnected from the world around him, and moments of temper where he left the house and came back hours later, sweaty from training alone - but he had a good heart, and most importantly, he had the kind of friendship with Naruto that most people wouldn't come across in their entire lifetime.

They were good for one another, Kushina knew. Sasuke kept Naruto grounded on what was happening around him, and had a noticeably calming effect on the kid; Naruto went out of his way to pull Sasuke out of his bouts of guilt and depression with a determination nothing short of bull-headedness. When Naruto was struggling to remain unshaken by the ignorant comments and stares of many of the other villagers, Sasuke provided a welcome distraction to him (even if that was in the form of dragging him off to train by his hair). When Sasuke tried to isolate himself for more than a few hours, Naruto would act as if he had no idea that Sasuke wanted to be left alone, and would find some way to bring him back to reality (even if that was in the form of picking a stupid fight just so they could punch each other until they both felt better. Kushina didn't fully understand their logic, but she wasn't one to comment).

"Teme! I do not have a mole there!" Naruto's outraged shout broke Kushina from her reverie. She glanced back at the table just in time to see Naruto launch himself across the table, quickly drawing Sasuke into a scuffle. It was almost comical, really, the way the Uchiha rolled his eyes as if he was above all this nonsense, while still getting unnecessarily engaged in the fight.

Another morning, Kushina might have left them to their fight while she cleaned up the kitchen or took the opportunity to have breakfast herself. Today, however, she gave a long-suffering sigh and strolled around the table to pull the two boys apart by the collars of their respective shirts.

"Get to school, you two." she admonished them.

After several minutes of rushing around on Naruto's part, and several long-suffering sighs from Sasuke, the two boys headed out the door and began to make their way into the village, towards the academy.

The Uzumaki residence lay on the outskirts of Konoha, in a predominantly civilian district. This far from the shinobi heart of the village, Kushina was rarely ever disturbed at home. Even the houses on their street were spaced apart, allowing for the rather large back garden which doubled as a training ground for the boys and an escape for Kushina on the mornings where even her own house made her feel a little claustrophobic.

After the Kyuubi attack, the Sandaime had promised Kushina that she would never want for anything again - that the village was indebted to both her and her late husband, and she could name almost anything, and as long as it was in accordance with his protection of the village, he would do his best to grant it.

Kushina had held on to that promise for eight years without asking for a thing. She'd sold her and Minato's apartment, unable to live there anymore, and had bought a new house for her and Naruto as far from the village centre as she could find. For the first few years after the attack, Kushina had been entirely content to spend her days with little Naruto, watching the sweet, blonde haired boy grow up. Her only visits had been from the Sandaime himself, on the rare occasions that he left the tower, Kakashi, when he had time between missions (though he'd point blank refused to spend time with Naruto once the kid was old enough to speak), and Mikoto, her gentle Uchiha friend. When Naruto had turned six, she had agreed to let him enroll in the academy, a fact which had sent the blonde into fits of joy. There, his friendship with Sasuke had progressed from weekly playdates to a genuine, albeit grudging, friendship. To that end, Sasuke and Naruto had grown up together for almost their whole lives.

When Mikoto's eldest, Itachi, had put an end to her best friend's life, Kushina had pulled herself from her self-imposed solitude for the first time in eight years. She'd marched into the village, ignoring the protests of the Sandaime's office chuunin, and walked straight into his office, demanding that he make good on his promise to her and let her adopt and raise the only remaining Uchiha. To her surprise, the Sandaime hadn't protested at all. He'd nodded sagely, agreed to take care of any necessary paperwork, and within an hour she was the sole guardian of Mikoto's youngest son.

Since then, she'd raised Sasuke like her own. Since the raven-haired boy had become her charge, Kushina had also begun to leave the house more, though she still wasn't taking missions.

In the silence after the boys had left the house, Kushina set to clearing the table.

"You can come inside now." she called absently, glancing towards the slightly ajar kitchen window. A moment later, Kakashi appeared behind her, for once not holding one of his Icha Icha novels. Kushina turned to him with a smile, balancing the plates from breakfast in her arms. Without a word, Kakashi took them from her, ignoring her half-hearted protests as he made his way to the sink and set them down amongst the others.

"You look well." the red haired woman commented. "Would you like tea?"

"Ah, I really can't refuse your tea, Kushina-senpai." Kakashi agreed, taking a seat at the table. Kushina rolled her eyes.

"I swear, Kakashi-kun, next time you call me 'senpai' I'll stop offering tea altogether." she scolded. The copy nin at least had the foresight to look a little sheepish.

"Ah, force of habit." he chuckled. "How have you been?"

While the kettle boiled, she took a seat beside Kakashi.

"Well, thank you. And you?" she asked, not expecting a real answer. As usual, Kakashi merely shrugged.

The two sat in comfortable silence for all of twenty minutes, interspersed with the occasional pleasant chatter. Kakashi's visits were more frequent these days, since he'd left ANBU, but he still refused to come over when Naruto and Sasuke were around. Kushina couldn't blame him, even if she had wanted to. She'd seen the momentary flash of pain in his eyes when Naruto first spoke in front of him, already beginning to look so much like Minato. She didn't need him to explain himself - she knew it was just too much, too soon, for him. Which was why it was totally surprising to her when he said, abruptly:

"I think it's time I met Naruto."

Kushina choked a little on her tea.

"Oh?" she asked weakly. Kakashi nodded seriously.

"I'd like to meet him soon, if that's alright with you." he said again.

"Of - of course, Kakashi-kun. I'm sure he'd love to meet you, ya know." It was rare that Kushina got flustered these days, but when she did, she automatically slipped back into the careless speech which Minato had used to tease her so fondly about. Kakashi didn't say any more on the topic, but when he left a few minutes later, she could tell that he was less weighed down than when he'd first climbed through her window.

* * *

Sasuke usually didn't have a hard time looking bored; in fact, looking as if he couldn't care less what was going on around him was one of the quickest and most effective ways to annoy Naruto, knowledge he was glad for. Not that he cared what the dobe thought, of course, he would reassure himself often, it was just that it was good to know as much about others' weaknesses as possible.

Either way, maintaining his trademark facade of deep boredom was something which Sasuke didn't usually struggle with. Today, however, he was actually having to concentrate on keeping that mask up - especially as the tension in the room built, everyone staring at Naruto as he struggled through his shinobi aptitude test.

As a personal rule, Sasuke didn't like to worry about insignificant things. The way he saw it, he had his goals, he had the things he cared about (and Naruto was definitely not one of them. Not at all.), and he had his ideas on what mattered. If someone had asked him a couple of years ago whether Naruto passing his graduation test was one of the few things that mattered to him, he probably would have laughed at them. Even that very morning, he'd been much more focussed on his own test than Naruto's, hadn't given the blonde's test much thought at all, in fact.

Now, though, as his eyes wandered against his will to rest on Naruto's face, easily picking up the frustration in the set of his eyebrows and the subtle trembling of the blonde's hands, Sasuke couldn't help but bite back a tinge of concern. After all, Sasuke himself had passed the test with flying colours, as he knew he would, and whether or not Naruto passed really wouldn't affect his future as a shinobi at all. And yet - and _yet -_ he wanted his friend to succeed.

The Uchiha met the Uzumaki's eyes at the same moment that Naruto glanced up at him, eyes narrowed in irritation. Sasuke didn't say a word, but he didn't have to. He merely gave the blonde the smallest of nods, the only reassurance he could offer. Naruto's eyes widened in surprise, and then he grinned.

From her position on the far wall, Hyuuga Hinata watched the exchange with a building sense of curiosity. She tried to be inconspicuous about it, but she really couldn't help but watch the two boys sometimes. At first, it had been Naruto. Since he'd... well, since she'd first met him, she had been fascinated by his warmth and the light which seemed to beam out of him at all times. To her, he represented all the things she wanted to grow to be - confident, and warm, and happy. And he was just so _different_ to everyone at the Hyuuga compound. He didn't walk and talk and glare with the same cold detachment which she had grown so used to growing up; it was a strange change to her, and it only made her want to befriend the golden haired boy more.

With Sasuke, it was out of a sense of wonder and curiosity that she watched his interactions with Naruto. The Uchiha had always been completely reserved for as long as she had known him, except for when he was around Naruto. If she was honest with herself, Hinata was a tiny bit jealous. Not of Sasuke exactly, just of the fact that Naruto seemed to notice him and not her. It hadn't been until she had realised just what a friend could do for someone that she'd realised she was actually incredibly lonely. Now that the thought was there, however, she couldn't un-think it.

The test continued disastrously. Naruto was acceptable at kunai and shuriken throwing, something Sasuke had helped him with over the past year, and his basic taijutsu was better than it had been in the past. Ninjutsu, however, even something as basic as a simple clone, was something which Naruto just couldn't seem to get a grip on. Sasuke couldn't possibly explain why the blonde was so bad at ninjutsu, but his chakra control seemed to be the problem. After the final test, in which the remaining three students were ordered to perform a henge, Naruto slumped in utter defeat. His henge had been the worst in the class, and even though his sense of optimism was usually unshakeable, he knew he hadn't passed the test. Iruka-sensei didn't even need to announce it; he shook his head in disappointment, and the sinking feeling in Naruto's gut set in.

"I'll catch up with you at home later, teme." he mumbled to Sasuke as he left the examination hall, head ducked down.

For a moment, Sasuke considered following him. He discarded the idea, however, when he noticed one of their other sensei, Mizuki, following him out. Perhaps the man would talk to him, he reasoned.

* * *

Sasuke was starting to really regret that decision by the time night fell. Though Kushina was doing her best to hide her worry, he could tell by the pacing and the way she kept looking towards the door that she was getting anxious.

"And you're sure he said he'd meet you at home?" Kushina asked for the fourth time. Sasuke nodded.

"I'm sure he's fine." he stated, blatantly ignoring the niggling thought that he might not be. "It seemed as if he just wanted to be alone."

His red-haired guardian nodded distractedly.

"I'm sure you're right." she agreed.

The minutes ticked by at a painstakingly slow rate. When the front door finally swung open to reveal a wide-eyed Naruto holding up a barely conscious Iruka-sensei, even the unshakeable Uchiha was mildly surprised.

"For the love of Kami! What happened?" In a flash, Kushina was at Iruka's side, lifting him easily and carrying him to the kitchen table. "Sasuke, get me a towel." she ordered, her tone suddenly commanding and authoritative. Sasuke brought the woman a clean towel from the cupboard and followed Kushina's directions to spread it over the kitchen table before she laid Iruka-sensei face down on top of it. From what he could tell by the quick glance he got before Kushina kicked him out of the kitchen, Iruka seemed to be unconscious from blood loss, if the huge gash on his back was anything to go by.

"Out!" Kushina ordered, before softening her voice slightly. "He'll be fine, it looks worse than it is."

Nodding mutely, Sasuke backtracked to the front door, where Naruto was still standing, looking slightly shell-shocked.

"Come on, dobe." Sasuke said not unkindly, grabbing his friend's arm. Keeping a firm grip on the blonde's arm, Sasuke dragged him through the kitchen and into the part of the house where their bedrooms where situated. After a moment of deliberation, he pulled Naruto into his own room, and only then did he let go of his arm. There seemed to be some blood on Naruto, he realised, but he guessed it was mostly Iruka's.

"Sasuke."

"What?" he replied shortly, frowning as he glanced around the blonde's perpetually messy room.

"I passed."

"What?"

"I passed the exam."

Sasuke paused in his scanning of the room to stare at Naruto.

"How?"

"I made clones. Real clones! And I beat up Mizuki with them, and then Iruka-sensei gave me a forehead protector, and- well look!"

It was then that Sasuke noticed the brand new forehead protector which Naruto was clenching in his hand, so hard that the edges of the metal plate were digging into his palm.

"Hmm." was Sasuke's only reply, but he couldn't help the pleased note which entered his voice. He had little to no idea what his friend was talking about, but he figured he would find out details later.

"I found out some weird stuff, though." Naruto continued. This time, the blonde's voice was lower, more serious. "I found out why they all hate me."

Sasuke's gaze turned sharp.

"Why?"

"There's some kind of... I don't know. Mizuki said there's a demon, in here." he tapped his own stomach, eyes wide. "He said to ask kaasan about it. And then Iruka stopped him from killing me, and then I decided something."

Sasuke hadn't realised how close he and Naruto were standing to one another until Naruto gripped the front of his shirt, staring into his eyes with an intensity he had rarely seen in his friend.

"I'm going to become Hokage." he announced, eyes blazing. "And I'm going to make all of them acknowledge me, and think of me as more than just some demon."

Sasuke made a low noise in the back of his throat that could have meant many things.

"Hmm." he agreed. "Work hard, then."

Then he turned and left the room, but not before Naruto caught the tiny smile tugging at the corners of the Uchiha's mouth.

* * *

"This is quite literally the worst idea you two have ever had."

Kakashi purposely ignored the exasperated voice of Yuhi Kurenai, focussing instead on eyeing up his opponent.

"Are you listening to me? Kakashi, Gai, this is one step too far." From his slouched position against the tree beside Kurenai, Asuma gave a grunt of agreement.

"Kakashi. Gai. Oh, for the love of Kami - I refuse to be blamed for this once it backfires!" Kurenai warned, rolling her eyes in exasperation as she moved to lean against the same tree as Asuma. She was apparently unaware of the way her arm rested against his, judging by the nonchalance with which she leaned into him.

"Relax, Kurenai!" Gai called out cheerfully, shooting her a thumbs up. "I am confident that both Kakashi and I will survive this challenge!"

"Right, that makes me feel much better." Kurenai muttered, closing her eyes for patience. The problem with Kakashi and Gai's challenges, she had realised some time ago, wasn't that they were inherently dangerous or stupid - which they were, of course, but that wasn't really the issue - no, the problem was that they were so often too funny _not_ to watch. And watching only encouraged them.

As Gai finished up his stretches, Kakashi began to mentally prepare himself for the gruelling task ahead. He figured he'd be able to get the hang of the axe much quicker than Gai, but there was always the fact that Gai could be very _creative_ with new weapons. Especially huge, ridiculously heavy battle axes stolen (borrowed, really) from Anko's weapons holding. As Asuma had so astutely pointed out, if their fight didn't kill them, Anko's wrath certainly would.

"Ahem." The Sandaime's politely bemused cough interrupted Kakashi's battle preparations.

"Hokage-sama!" Immediately, the four jounin stood to attention, attempting to look as professional as possible whilst caught in various ridiculous positions. Hiruzen surveyed his elite jounin, electing to ignore the fact that two of them were cuddled up to one another against a tree, one of them was halfway through an impassioned war cry, and the other was eyeing up a presumably stolen battle axe as though it held the answers to the universe.

His jounin were weird.

"When you're not so busy, Kakashi, I have some things to discuss with you." the Sandaime supplied into the silence, pretending not to notice as Kurenai and his son shifted guiltily away from one another. "I'll see you in the Hokage tower."

That said, the old man left at a leisurely pace, leaving a confused and embarrassed silence behind him. Once she was sure their Hokage was far from earshot, Kurenai groaned in mortification.

"Why is it that he always finds us in situations like this?" she whispered accusingly, her voice not quite low enough that Kakashi couldn't hear. "I swear, Asuma, you'd better have explained to him that the last time was a misunderstanding..."

Before he could hear too much, Kakashi nudged Gai and began to walk away, leaving Kurenai to further scold Asuma. For once, his rival picked up on the social cue, and, hefting the massive axes onto his shoulders, followed his silver-haired friend.

* * *

'I'm assigning a jinchuuriki, an orphaned Uchiha, and a kunoichi with absolutely no survival instincts to your genin team' was unsurprisingly Kakashi's new least favourite thing to hear. Okay, so maybe the Sandaime hadn't put it quite like that, but he could paraphrase.

"Pardon?" he replied politely, stowing away his book to gaze at his Hokage, who was currently flanked by a tired looking Kushina.

"I believe they will make a strong team, especially with your guidance. Naruto in particular will need to learn how to deal with being a Jinchuuriki, and Sasuke has yet to activate his sharingan."

"And the other girl?" Kakashi wasn't entirely sure why he asked. After all, he already knew it was a terrible idea for him to take on this team, and showing interest would only encourage the idea.

"Sakura is a clever kunoichi, topping her class in terms of theory and knowledge. Physically, however, she lacks the motivation to attack an opponent, and needs training. I trust you can handle that."

Dammit, the old man was clever. By making it seem as if it was Kakashi's idea to take interest in the unmentioned student, he'd pretty well backed him into a corner.

"I accept." he agreed eventually, fingers itching to pull his book out again and pretend this wasn't happening to him.

"Well, it wasn't exactly a request, ya know." Kushina grumbled good-naturedly at him. He bit back an amused smile, opting instead to raise his hand in an unenthusiastic wave before using shunshin to vacate the premises.

He landed a street or so away, appearing rather suddenly next to an unsuspecting Anko. To be fair to himself, he hadn't expected to appear quite so close to her - he'd taken a wild guess at her chakra signature, really. He wasn't entirely sure that he deserved the wave of senbon she sent flying at him, and it was a little concerning that she didn't stop throwing them even after she'd ascertained that it was only him standing there, but he merely sidestepped the razor sharp needles and raised his hands in a placating gesture.

"I thought Gai had already returned the axes." he pointed out blithely, taking her reluctant ceasefire as a sign that he could fall into step beside her.

"What? Oh, right, that." Anko snapped, shooting him a glare. "You are so lucky they aren't damaged, Hatake. I'll have your head next time." she warned him. Kakashi suppressed a shudder. She could be great company when he was in need of a strong drink or seven, and he didn't find her personality as abrasive as some of the other jounin did, but _Kami that woman could be terrifying._

"Ah... right. Fair enough." he agreed easily. A worrying thought hit him. "Wait, why did you throw the senbon if you weren't thinking about the axes?" There was an awkward pause.

"I'm having a bad day." Anko admitted grumpily. "I thought seeing you with sharp things sticking out of you might make me feel better, but I'd forgotten how damn fast you are."

Well, it did sound fairly reasonable to him.

"I'm being evicted." the purple haired woman said before he could ask. "_Again._ Landlords are so picky these days."

Again, Kakashi considered asking why she was being evicted, but decided against it. The story last time had been traumatic enough. Unfortunately, she beat him to it.

"Apparently, I signed a contract stating that I wouldn't set traps anywhere in the building to keep out potential enemies. Clearly safety isn't a priority to chuunin." Anko sniffed.

Kakashi very much doubted that that was the issue. Chuunin just had different standards of safety to the elite jounin, one of them being that they valued having the ability to move over the comfort of knowing that there were jounin level traps set at every doorway.

"Perhaps you should move to the jounin complex." Kakashi suggested carefully.

"Eh, it looks like I'll have to. Hey, maybe we'll be neighbours."

He wasn't entirely sure if Anko's enthusiasm was feigned or not, and he couldn't decide which option was scarier.

"Anyway," Kakashi hedged, already beginning to walk away, "I have to, uh." He couldn't think of a very good excuse, so Kakashi did what he always did during awkward social situations, and shunshined away for the second time that day.

* * *

"We're proud of you, Sakura, dear, we are." Kizashi began, looking nervously to his wife for guidance. "And we understand that you're going to be busier now, but really, uh-"

"What your father is trying to say, Sakura," Mebuki interjected sternly, "is that you cannot and will not let your chores fall to the side. You gave your father quite a fright, you know, finding your underwear in the bathroom. You know we expect you to wash your own clothes, and a man of your father's age really doesn't need shocks like that."

Sakura just stared disbelievingly at her parents, mostly wishing the ground would open up and swallow her whole.

"I... okay. I'm going to be late for my team announcement." Sakura managed to get out, trying (and failing) to get the image of her dad brandishing her underwear at her as if personally affronted out of her head. "So I'm going to go, but I'll clean up when I get home."

Mebuki nodded, letting her face soften.

"Fine." she agreed, waving Sakura out the door. "We are proud that you graduated. Get to school."

It had honestly come as a surprise to her to find out that her daughter had graduated from the academy, small as she was. Their clan hadn't been active in the shinobi forces for generations - Kizashi himself had become a merchant instead of a shinobi, and she had married him without even knowing that there had been shinobi in his family generations previously. When Sakura had arrived home the previous day practically glowing with the news that she was going to be a kunoichi, Mebuki hadn't known how to react. She had honestly assumed that Sakura would grow out of the idea well before graduation and eventually take over the family business. Kizashi had been equally baffled, and once Sakura had gone to bed, worn out from the day's demands, they had sat up talking. Eventually, they'd agreed that they wouldn't try to stop the girl from becoming a kunoichi - after all, she had trained hard over the past four years. However, they were fairly sure that once she began to take real missions, and learned that the shinobi lifestyle wasn't as glamorous as it was cut out to be, she would eventually drop the idea and they could begin to train her as a merchant.

They'd already met her team leader, a cautiously aloof man who had at least seemed fairly competent, so they trusted that she'd be in safe hands for as long as she stuck with the idea. And, they'd reasoned, what could possibly go wrong for a genin?

Neither parent was altogether concerned that Sakura's stint as a kunoichi would last very long.

* * *

**Author's Note (important please read):**

**Hey guys! This is a new concept that I've been wanting to write for a long time, which I may or may not turn into a long-term project depending on the response the first few chapters get. This story will not stick strictly to canon (obviously) - I want to examine the ways in which the Naruto universe could be different if a detail such as Kushina's death/survival was changed. There will be pairings, some cracky, some canon, and the story will progress quite quickly at some points, and will focus in and slow down on others. I would really, really like to know what you guys think! If I do decide to ****continue this, I'll want to do a decent job, so any suggestions, criticisms, reviews etc. are really appreciated.  
**

**Also, a quick warning that this story will probably get quite dark in places, and quite humorous in others. There will be some big changes to canon, a few tragedies, and hopefully a fair amount of smut later on. Thanks guys!**


	2. Chapter 2

Sakura was acutely aware of Ino's furtive glances her way as she took her seat beside Sasuke and Naruto. Her father's tantrum had set her several minutes behind schedule to get to the classroom-turned-meeting room, and by the time she got there, almost all the seats were taken. Any other day, she and Ino would have bickered for a couple of minutes before accidentally taking seats next to one another; that day, however, Ino hadn't been able to save her a seat, and Sakura ended up sitting next to Sasuke and Naruto.

It wasn't that she minded, of course. Both her and almost every other girl in the class had developed some form of crush on the Uchiha, with his impossibly black hair, fine features, and delicate eyelashes giving him an appearance bordering on feminine. He was intriguing to watch, and Sakura very often found herself distracted by him, by the way he held himself in a clear, if inadvertent, display of his high-status upbringing, and the way his face was always so difficult to read, calm and composed even when his body language said otherwise.

The problem with having a crush on Sasuke, though, was that he only ever seemed to spare a thought for Naruto. She knew he lived with the Uzumaki boy, and everyone had heard the story about the slaughter of his clan, and Sakura knew enough to know that Naruto was the closest thing he had to a friend. She sort of wished he'd let her be his friend as well, though. Obviously she'd rather he let her be his _girl_friend, but a friend would be nice too.

Iruka-sensei made his way to the front of the classroom and began his speech without introduction or preamble.

"As of today, you are all genin." he began, scanning the room seriously. Sakura couldn't help the tiny thrill of pride that went through her to hear the word; she may only be a genin, the lowest rank of shinobi, but damn, she had worked hard to get this far. Beside her she could feel rather than see Naruto grinning unabashedly, and right that moment Sakura wasn't scornful in the slightest - perhaps for the first time since she'd met him, her and Naruto were on the same page.

"You will all be assigned to three man cells made up of your classmates and based on skill level." Iruka-sensei continued, glancing down at the sheet of paper in his hand. Sakura leaned into his every word with baited breath. "I'll start with Team 7, which will be made up of Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto, and Uchiha Sasuke."

Sakura beamed. Beside her, she saw Naruto do the same; she even thought she saw the beginnings of a tiny smirk on Sasuke's face, though she could have imagined it.

"Next, Team 8..."

As her sensei began to reel off the names of the other three person teams, Sakura tuned him out. When Ino's team was called, the blonde girl gave an exaggerated groan, rolling her eyes at Shikamaru, who sat beside her. It was a pointless act, as Sakura knew that Ino was secretly pleased to be placed with her childhood friends, but she understood that her friend had to keep up all appearances of being dissatisfied with them. It was just an Ino thing.

"You will all be introduced to your jounin sensei after lunch." Iruka-sensei concluded, finally cracking a knowing smile. "Make sure you are back on time."

At first, it was tragically awkward for Sakura as she left the classroom. She had the vague thought that maybe Sasuke would want to have lunch with her, now that they were on the same team, but a quick glance behind her revealed the sight of Naruto and Sasuke deep in conversation as they left the room, and quickly quelled that thought. She considered going to sit with Ino, but her friend had already sauntered off with Shikamaru and Chouji, all the time pretending to be completely exasperated by them.

To her embarrassment, Sakura found out that she had stopped dead in her tracks by way of Naruto running straight into her from behind.

"And then Kaasan said that- whoa! Sakura-chan!"

Startled, Sakura gave a tiny yelp and jumped to the side, inadvertently raising her hands in a weak protective gesture. Cheeks burning with embarrassment, Sakura forced herself not to stare at the two boys as she warily lowered her hands. Sasuke's expression was as composed as always, but Naruto grinned at the sight of her.

"Good timing, Sakura-chan," he said. "We were just about to get lunch, and we should eat together as a team now!"

Sakura waited for Sasuke to disagree, but he didn't. He merely shrugged and began walking away again, trusting that the other two would follow. After a second, the pink haired girl followed after them both, not entirely sure that she hadn't just imagined the whole thing.

* * *

"So, you told him?" Kakashi was the first to bring it up. He and Kushina sat at the kitchen table, sitting in a comfortable silence with their mugs of coffee. Kushina looked even more tired that day than she had the previous one, when she and the Third had announced his new genin team.

"Not exactly." she sighed. "You must have heard what happened."

For a moment, Kakashi considered pretending he hadn't heard, but really, what was the point? All the jounin knew about the incident from two nights ago, and although they didn't say it aloud, every one of them was wondering why Kushina hadn't told Naruto sooner. Every one except Kakashi, that was. Just as he had refused to see Naruto once he began to resemble his own sensei, Minato, he knew that Kushina wouldn't have been able to face telling Naruto about the demon inside him - even if the Third hadn't expressly forbidden it.

"Yeah, I heard." Kakashi agreed eventually. "He must have asked you about it, though." It wasn't nosiness which made Kakashi ask, it was the knowledge that Kushina didn't have anyone else to tell.

"He did." was her reply.

The silence stretched on for a minute as Kushina considered telling her only remaining friend about the events of the last two days. In the end, her loyalty to him won out. Although the Hokage had implied that she shouldn't tell anyone any details which she could avoid, she trusted Kakashi with her life. More than that - she was placing Naruto's life in his trust as well, as his jounin sensei. He deserved to know as much as he could about the boy, she decided.

"He wasn't as angry as I thought he would be." she said. "He was upset, understandably. But Sasuke must have talked some sense into him, because yesterday he began to ask me questions. I wouldn't blame him if he never forgave me, but he doesn't seem angry anymore. I promised to start teaching him about the Kyuubi, though I'm not sure he'll be so interested in the technical stuff, ya know." she chuckled. "He doesn't need me giving him a load of theory at the moment. He needs someone else to teach him chakra control. That's what you're here for, I guess."

Thankfully, Kushina's eyes had taken on the amused glint they always did when she asked him a favour - as if she knew he wouldn't refuse her anything.

"Ah, I'll do my best, I suppose." Kakashi sighed. Inwardly, though, he was a little pleased. She trusted him with her child, and that was more than enough to convince him to give the kid a shot.

* * *

By the time their jounin sensei arrived, _three freaking hours late_, a lot of Sakura's excitement had faded. It didn't help that he was hit on the head by a carefully placed blackboard duster as he walked through the door, or that he didn't seem to notice.

Eating lunch with Naruto and Sasuke had been an experience in and of itself, and even though she didn't talk much, by the time they had made their way back to the classroom to meet their teacher, Sakura had been in the best mood she'd felt for weeks.

That good mood was quickly dispelled when their jounin sensei graced them with an unimpressed glance, remarked blithely that his first impression of them was one of distaste, and told them to meet him on the roof before disappearing in some kind of shunshin technique.

His introduction told them absolutely nothing, except that his name was Kakashi-sensei, and he didn't like sharing things about himself. When he turned the question to them, Sakura really didn't know what to say. She stammered through her answers without giving any kind of meaningful response; she'd wanted to tell them that she was going to be a great kunoichi, but anything following 'I'm going to become Hokage' and 'I want to kill a certain man' was bound to be a letdown, so in the end she just trailed off into silence.

The others didn't seem to notice, anyway. Their new sensei instructed them to meet him the following morning for a training exercise, and all too soon they were off in their different directions.

Even though it was getting dark, Sakura made her way home as slowly as she could. It wasn't that she didn't want to see her parents and tell them about her day, and her new team, and even her new sensei - it was just that she didn't want to come down from her own feelings of elation just yet. She finally had a team. A real team, and she was a real kunoichi. For as long as she could, Sakura wanted to savour her happy little bubble. After all, as soon as she walked in the door there would be chores to be done, and lectures to hear, and questions and things asked of her. She didn't think it was too much to want twenty minutes to herself on the way home, really.

Unbeknownst to her, Sakura was being escorted on her journey by her jounin sensei. Kakashi kept strictly to the rooftops as he kept an eye on the little pink haired girl as she made her way along the bustling streets, turning towards the civilian sector of the town. He couldn't help but wonder what she was finding so exciting - every few metres she would look as if she was biting back a grin.

It did occur to Kakashi that following his student home could be considered quite creepy. He decided fairly quickly, however, that he would rather be safe than sorry. After some training, the kunoichi would not need him to watch over her on her way home again, he was sure. He was rather wary of the Third's summary of her, however - a genius when it came to theory, with little to no survival instincts in combat. He just didn't think it was safe for her to be walking home alone, when it was already past dark.

Kakashi followed her until she made it to her door, and stayed around just long enough to hear her mother demand where she'd been all night. Deciding his work there was done, he took the opportunity to make his way towards his apartment block, stopping at Anko's door rather than his own. It was just one of those nights where he could use a drink or seven.

* * *

Far away, in the Land of Water, Itachi considered sleep. Rather, he considered how nice it would be to actually get some sleep, even for a couple of hours. Pleasant, he imagined. Therapeutic, even. Of course, it was a little difficult to imagine that he would get anywhere close to unconsciousness that night, considering how grumpy Kisame was insisting on being. Well, he could probably get the man to knock him out, actually. Not that he really wanted to deal with the days of damage that a punch from Kisame would cause, but _Kami_ he was tired. Kisame had been growling and ranting the whole day, and even now, in the room of their tiny overnight inn, he wouldn't be quiet. They rarely had the chance to stop in an actual inn on their travels, especially in the middle of Water country. As they were a day ahead of schedule to meet Kakuzu, they had taken the opportunity to rest for the night. And Kisame had chosen this particular day to try to hold a conversation with him. Itachi forced open heavy eyelids and raised himself off the single mattress slightly, leaning on his elbows.

"Kisame." he interrupted the man evenly. "I am well aware that Kakuzu gets on your nerves. I have heard this sentiment from you before. May I remind you, as I did earlier, that I don't care?"

In all honesty, his sass probably wasn't necessary. If it had been any other member of Akatsuki, Itachi would have had a fierce fight on his hands. He would have won, but it still would have disrupted his day, and definitely wouldn't have helped with his plan to get some sleep. There was also the rather pointless 'no killing other members' rule in Akatsuki, for the sake of conserving resources - although, in Itachi's opinion, any Akatsuki member that could be killed so easily probably wasn't suited to being in a criminal organisation anyway. He tended to agree with Kakuzu on that point, who had ended his working relationship with his last partner by ripping out the man's spleen and shoving it down his throat. Itachi had not at all envied the person who had to explain to Pein that yes, Kakuzu had killed another one.

As it was only Kisame, all his dry response elicited was a grim chuckle and a couple of kunai thrown half heartedly at his head.

"Alright, alright, I get the idea." Kisame rolled his eyes. "You Uchiha sure do need a lot of beauty sleep."

"Are you acquainted with many Uchiha these days, Hoshigaki?" When he spoke this time, Itachi's voice was politely bored. That didn't mean Kisame couldn't detect the threat within the words, even as the black haired man lay back down on the mattress, closing his eyes calmly. In fact, he had to stop himself from flinching. Itachi was generally the calmest member of Akatsuki, easy to work with and usually happy enough to indulge Kisame's wishes to take the 'scenic route' whenever they went on extended missions. He wasn't, however, harmless in any manner of speaking. He was fucking scary. It was too easy for Kisame to forget that he was partnered with one of the most dangerous men in the world, especially since he'd found out about Itachi's soft spot for kittens and contemporary literature. All it took for him to regain his senses and remember just how dangerous the other man was, however, was the occasional idle threat, always put so carefully in his quiet, even tone.

On the very short list of Shinobi Kisame Never Wanted to Fight, Itachi was right up the top.

* * *

Neji didn't bat an eyelid under the stern gazes of the Elders as he left the Hyuuga compound, schooling his face into a cool mask as he strode purposefully across the lawn. Tenten stood waiting for him just beyond the wall, visible through the open gate. She gave him a faint smile as he drew closer, but didn't raise her hand or call out as she might have done in the past. She was used to the formal etiquette of the Hyuuga compound, these days. She would wait until they began to walk away to greet him less formally.

Even though the Hyuuga clan was mostly used to Tenten turning up every day, there were still the occasional looks of superiority from the older Hyuuga members which Tenten had to pretend not to know were directed at her. Neji would never, ever admit it to her, but he occasionally worried that one day she would grow sick of the snide glances and muffled comments and would just stop picking him up on the way to training altogether. Not that it mattered to him, at all, of course. He didn't need Tenten with her warm smile and persistent attempts at friendship and seamless transition into his life. He also didn't need her to walk to training with him every day. It was just that he didn't mind it, so much. It didn't make much sense, logically - he knew that he was more talented than her, and so there was nothing he could learn in terms of combat from spending time with her. As irrational as it was, Tenten was the only person who he spent time with just because. He'd tried a thousand times to come up with a viable reason as to why he let her meet him every morning, and failed.

"Neji." Tenten grinned when he finally reached her, turning to fall into step beside him. Neji nodded by way of reply. His aloofness didn't seem to bother the kunoichi, who settled into a happy chatter as they walked. He sort of appreciated it.

"Gai-sensei and Lee said that we're just doing light taijutsu training today." she remarked cheerfully. "Which probably means we'll be sparring for six hours, but it still gives us time to go to the street markets afterwards. It might not even be dark by then."

"Mm." Neji hummed mildly.

"And I may as well get all my groceries at once, so could you help me carry some of the bags home?" Tenten continued. "You know, all the stairs are a pain if I'm carrying everything at once."

"Yes."

Neji didn't want to waste words. Helping Tenten with her groceries would be what was expected of him under the etiquette of the Hyuuga clan, that was all. He would have done it for anyone in order to protect the Hyuuga clan's reputation as one which followed the traditional values. It had nothing to do with his teammate, or the fact that he didn't want her to have to carry it all by herself. In all honesty, he knew she could probably manage - after all, she did just as much strength training as he did, if not more. So it wasn't out of genuine need that she asked him, just as it wasn't out of kindness that he helped her. It was just... etiquette. Nothing more.

Unfortunately, their mostly one sided conversation was interrupted as they reached the training grounds, by Neji's least favourite sound in the world.

"Dynamic entry!" Gai-sensei roared, leaping from the upper boughs of a tree. Instinctively, Neji and Tenten moved back to back, arms raised protectively as Gai rocketed to the ground where Neji had been standing only a split second before. Their jounin sensei straightened up, flashing them a toothy grin and a quick thumbs up.

"Excellent reflexes, my students!" he said approvingly.

_The battle cry sort of gave you away, _Neji wanted to say, but he bit back his response. _Wait,_ he realised with a sudden start. _There's Gai-sensei, but where's-_

"Kyaa!"

"Ow! For the love of _Kami, Lee!_" Tenten cursed. There was a muffled 'oof' which Neji imagined came from Lee. "Can't you say hello like a normal person?"

_Ah. There he is._

With a resigned sigh, Neji dropped his defensive stance and spun around to take in a disgruntled Tenten, who was nursing a painful looking lump on her arm, and a beaming, albeit winded Lee, who appeared to have suffered some kind of blow to the gut. Neji decided he probably just didn't want to know.

"Ah, don't argue, team!" Gai-sensei chuckled. "We're only having a light training session today, so let's start with a quick warm up! One hundred laps of the village, on the count of three!"

"Yes! Gai-sensei!" Lee crowed.

Tenten and Neji simultaneously bit back groans.

* * *

Kakashi woke up approximately thirty minutes before he was scheduled to meet his genin team. _Huh. I'm well ahead of time today,_ he mused, before promptly rolling over and going straight back to sleep. He had the vague beginnings of a hangover, and frankly, he would much rather sleep it off for an extra hour while his body repaired itself than even consider getting out of bed.

The second time he woke up, Kakashi sighed and reluctantly climbed out of bed. He checked the clock on his bedside table. It was only half an hour past the time that he'd told his genin to meet him, so he figured he had plenty of time. After a leisurely (if only semi edible) breakfast, a quick trip to the monument, and a rather pleasant walk around Konoha, Kakashi decided he should probably meet up with his genin some time that day. People could be so touchy when he was a little late. Just the other day, Kurenai had given him an earful for turning up even an hour late for a training session. And the previous week, he'd been genuinely terrified for his life when Anko chewed him out for being late to a bar. It was like everyone was on a completely different wavelength to him or something.

When he did make it to the training fields, his genin team were less than impressed with him. He did find, however, that they lived up to the mental profiles he'd created of them the previous day - Naruto was the most outspokenly annoyed, Sakura looked frustrated but didn't comment, and Sasuke remained completely composed. He'd expected as much.

What was vaguely interesting, however, was the way they attacked his challenge. He hadn't expected much, and honestly, he didn't get much, but it was still interesting. Despite Naruto and Sasuke seeming to be joined at the hip most of the time, they didn't work together, as he'd hoped they might. Naruto leapt straight at him, rushing in without thinking. Although Icha Icha Tactics was a much preferable distraction, Kakashi did take note of the kid's taijutsu (passable but not fantastic by any description), and he had to give him some credit for using a jounin level technique like the shadow clones. That part was a bit of a surprise, actually.

Sasuke was the most physically strong. His taijutsu still wasn't worth putting his book down for, but at one point Kakashi did register a tiny flicker of surprise as he was suddenly the target of a huge fireball. Interesting.

Sakura was another surprise. The way she'd been described to him, he'd assumed she would be the most useless of the three. But to her credit, she was the first to find a hiding spot, and picked a clump of bushes with the best position in terms of throwing weapons. She didn't actually take any weapons out, of course, but he supposed he couldn't ask for it all.

After a ridiculous three hours of them _just not getting it_, Kakashi called a break. That is, he tied Naruto to a wooden pole, cast a camouflage genjutsu over himself, and watched the three of them bicker. So basically, a break.

It was amusing. He was fairly sure he heard the Uchiha kid call Naruto a dobe at least four times, but rather than get annoyed by it, Naruto seemed to take it as an endearing nickname. Their relationship to one another was strange, Kakashi was learning.

From his vantage point behind some trees, Kakashi watched Sasuke lean over, holding out his lunch to Naruto. After a tense second, Sakura did the same. _Finally,_ the copy nin sighed. Now he could really scare the shit out of them.

It was too much fun; Kakashi body flickered directly in front of the three genin, allowing his chakra to surge so strongly that even three inexperienced children would feel it.

"You guys." he growled, delighting in the expressions of terror that flashed across all three faces. _Even the Uchiha's,_ he thought smugly. He'd been aiming for that all day. Just for the sheer torture of it, Kakashi held his position for another second, before relaxing into an easy slouch.

"You all pass." he grinned.

Oh, it was just too good. Their faces. Their little faces.

* * *

"Now listen here, you fucking fuck." Tsunade's voice was dangerously low as she lifted the man out of his seat by the collar of his cheap shirt. She imagined it would look rather comical in a different context, as he was so much taller than her, and yet she'd lifted him so that his feet were dangling above the ground. The bar had gone completely still, the forced silence punctuated only by the sound of the man in question swallowing nervously. No one moved a muscle.

"That there is my apprentice, and you've just insulted her. And when you do that, you insult me. Understood?" The medic nin tilted her head to the side slightly, a stony smile curving up the corners of her pretty lips. She could feel the man shaking, though she wasn't sure if it was with rage or fear. Probably both.

"I- someone do something!" the man managed to spit out, glancing around the room wildly. Tsunade's grip on his shirt tightened imperceptibly. She tried to reign in her temper, but she could feel her control slipping a little. Of course, she wouldn't really hurt the man - he was a civilian, and she could crush him like a twig if she wanted to. She didn't want to, though. She just wanted to teach him a little lesson, that was all.

"Tsunade-sama." From her side came Shizune's deceptively calm voice. The brunette laid a reassuring hand on the older woman's shoulder, silently begging her to put the man down. "It's fine. He's not worth it. Let's just leave."

"I don't think it is fine, actually." Tsunade replied, though her anger was deflating already, knowing that Shizune hated it when they caused a scene. She turned her attention back to the man, eyeing him up. "Do you think that what you said was fine, stranger-san?" The man shook his head quickly, though his eyes were full of a self righteous fury. Cute.  
"N-no! Not at all! I apologise to the young lady. Please put me down."

Tsunade didn't move for a moment. Then she gave a tiny sigh, and dropped the man right on his ass. He yelped and landed sprawled on the floor, spluttering with indignation.

"Learn some manners." Tsunade remarked archly, stepping over him on her way to the door. Shizune followed quickly after, shooting an apologetic glance at the owner.

They made it approximately three blocks before the man and his gang of idiots caught up to them.

"Hey! You! Turn around, you fucking bitch!" the first man called. Tsunade sighed with disappointment.

"The greetings never get creative, do they, Shizune?" she murmured, spinning around to face the group.

"Never." Shizune agreed, sounding equally disappointed. In unison, the two women shook their heads sadly.

The man which Tsunade had lifted in the bar looked much more confident when surrounded by a group of five men, each clutching various low quality weapons. Tsunade resisted the urge to snicker. Instead, she raised one eyebrow.

"I thought I told you to learn some manners." she said coolly. The man glared at her.

"That little bitch took a lot of our money, you know." he spat. "And we want it back. Hand it over quickly and we won't kill you."

"Oh? I was under the impression that she won it. I'm awful at these games, you see, but my apprentice seems to have quite a talent for poker."

"Did you not hear me? Do you want to die tonight, lady? Hand it over."

Unperturbed, Tsunade glanced at Shizune, who merely shrugged as if to say 'it's up to you'.

Perhaps another night, Tsunade would have just left it. They were clearly out of their league, which (unfortunately for them) was a fact they were oblivious to. That night, however, Tsunade was not in a good mood.

So naturally, she knocked them all unconscious, took their money, and didn't think twice about it. Poor fuckers. They really shouldn't have underestimated her anger after they insulted Shizune. Perhaps if they'd only tried to threaten and rob them, she would have carried them to someone's doorway, or even left them outside the hospital. As it was, she left them in the middle of the street where she'd found them before turning and heading back to the inn with Shizune.

She and Shizune hadn't been in the small gambling town for very long, but the next morning they packed up their things and moved on to the next town. They'd been doing that more and more often lately, stopping for only two or three nights in each town, sometimes even less. So far, Shizune hadn't commented, but she knew her apprentice was growing more concerned with each town they breezed right threw. She could tell by the way the brunette had stopped commenting on her drinking habits, and started commenting on her sleeping habits instead.

The truth was, Tsunade's feelings of deep restlessness were increasing by the day. She couldn't stand the facade of any of the towns they visited, and she hated the way the money lenders looked at her even more than she hated the cheap inns and twenty four hour bars they so often frequented. When they made it back to their room every night, she lay awake with the growing feeling that something was wrong, or something was becoming wrong. The other night she'd even dreamt about Jiraiya - just a stupid memory, really, replaying in her head. But it had unnerved her.

So much of the time, Tsunade longed to be back on the road, where no one knew who she was, and no one cared.

* * *

**A/N: Hey guys! Sorry updates have been so slow this week, I'm about to take some huge exams so I've been really busy. Anyway, I just wanted to address a couple of points which some people have raised from the last chapter.**

**Firstly: thank you to everyone who reviewed! I love feedback, it makes my day and helps me write better. So thank you. Secondly: I don't want to give away any pairings at this stage, but I want to reassure the several people who asked that I will definitely _not_ be pairing Kushina with anyone. MinaKushi is such a beautiful love story and I would never disrespect it by pairing her off again as if she could ever love anyone more than Minato. So don't worry!**

**Lastly: yes, Naruto is a lot like his canon self at the moment. There are reasons behind the way I'm structuring this, a huge one being that I don't believe Naruto would have been accepted as a jinchuuriki even if his mother had survived. The villagers don't hate him in canon because he's an orphan, they hate him because he's a jinchuuriki. I also don't believe that he would have been told as a child, mostly because the Third wouldn't have allowed it, and also because I can't imagine Kushina would be able to tell him.**

**Anyway, Let me know what you think of the chapter! I'd love to get some feedback.**


	3. Chapter 3

"Uh... Kaasan?"

Kushina paused from washing up at the sink at the sound of Naruto calling her from his bedroom. Though he didn't sound panicked, there was a definite edge to his voice, so she wiped her hands of the soapy water quickly and walked to his room. Sasuke had gone to the village centre to buy groceries, so she was fairly sure the problem couldn't be that they'd managed to give each other concussions again. Still, she hurried. Naruto hadn't called her from another room in years.

She opened the door to the sight of what appeared to be Naruto and one of his kage bunshin, both of which were shirtless and staring into the mirror at the intricate black symbol which had appeared on their stomachs.

"What are you doing, hey?" Kushina asked not unkindly, leaning against the doorframe. She felt a small surge of relief to see that he was unharmed - he had just never moulded enough chakra to make the seal visible before. Naruto continued to stare at his stomach for a moment before flicking his gaze back to her.

"Uh, what's up with this?" he asked, only a hint of concern colouring his voice. Kushina smiled fondly. Minato used to speak to her in the same way when he was trying not to worry her by acting as if he was unworried himself.

"That's the seal that keeps Kyuubi locked up inside you." she explained, absently raising her hand to her own stomach. "Your father... he made it. It's quite complicated, actually. A master's seal."

Naruto gaped and dispelled the clone.

"My father was strong enough to do something like that?" he asked incredulously. Kushina nodded, and Naruto saw the fondness swell up in her eyes. There was pain there, too, but he didn't know what to say to make it go away without changing the topic, and he didn't want to stop her from talking. His mother so rarely mentioned his father.

"Minato was the most powerful shinobi in the village." Kushina told him, taking a seat on his bed.

"Minato? Wait, as in Namikaze-"

"The very same." His mother's voice was softer than he'd heard it in years. Naruto was no theory genius like Sakura, but his mother had insisted that he at least learn the basics of Konoha history. He knew what that name meant.

"So then Dad was... Dad was the Fourth." Naruto sat down beside his mother on the bed, eyes wide with wonder. "He was a village hero."

Kushina smiled despite the tears threatening to overflow from her eyes.

"He was our hero, too." she smiled, reaching over to run a hand through the blonde locks that were so much like Minato's.

"Why didn't you tell me any of this?" Naruto asked. He didn't sound angry, but Kushina still flinched slightly, withdrawing her hand.

"There isn't a reason I can give you that excuses not telling you." Kushina told him sadly. "I can only tell you that I truly thought it was the best way to protect you. I knew that the bijuu wouldn't be a secret forever, and you'd eventually find out, but I wanted to give you as long as possible to live without that burden."

Naruto was silent for a moment, considering. Then he turned to his mother, his characteristically reassuring smile returning to his face.

"I think that in a way, I kind of understand that. Like if Sakura-chan or Sasuke had a burden that I could stop them from feeling, I'd want to do whatever I could, even if it wasn't actually the best thing to do. So I get it. I still wish you'd told me, but don't worry, Kaasan, I understand you."

Then the tears really did begin to fall from Kushina's eyes. She pulled Naruto into a tight hug, and after a moment, he wrapped his arms around her in return. She stayed like that for several minutes, unwilling to let go. After a little while, though, Naruto began to squirm. He'd always had such a surplus of energy, it was a trial to get him to sit still for more than five minutes. She relinquished him with a laugh and ruffled his hair.

It wasn't until Kushina stood to leave the room that she remembered her original question.

"Uh, Naruto?" she began. "Why were you making a shirtless clone in the first place?"

Naruto turned the shade of Kushina's hair. He laughed nervously.

"Well, uh, see there's this mole that Teme claims I have on my-"

"Okay, I don't want to know!" Kushina interrupted, cringing internally. "Don't worry about it. You just... yeah. I'd better go."

As Kushina closed Naruto's door behind her she resisted the urge to groan in exasperation. Her boys were so weird.

* * *

Kakashi entered the Uzumaki residence with more than a little trepidation later that day. The last time he'd received a message from Kushina telling him to 'get his arrogant ass over here or so help me Kami' it had been when he'd accidentally left one of his Icha Icha novels in her house, and a certain curious blonde haired jinchuuriki had picked it up. Sure, the kid hadn't been able to read very well yet, but that fact had apparently been irrelevant to Kushina.

Needless to say, he was well aware that he was probably in trouble, and he was vaguely terrified. With good reason, too, he reminded himself. Kushina was not a woman anyone wanted to cross. He'd seen what those chakra chains could do to a man, and that had been when she was in a good mood.

"Kushina-sama." he greeted her at the door, layering on the respect extra thick as he tried to gauge her mood. She rolled her eyes at him in exasperation, but he couldn't sense any killing intent. So that was a positive.

"You were late." she said by way of reply. Kakashi frowned. He always made sure to be on time to see Kushina - again, who could blame him? She was a scary woman.

She seemed to realise his thought process, because she rolled her eyes again, pulling him into the house by his shirt sleeve until she was sure he wouldn't run away.

"To your genin team's test?" she prompted, arching a brow at him.

"Ah. Yes, well, I was very busy that day." Kakashi attempted weakly. She shook her head, leading him to the kitchen.

"Listen here Hatake." Kushina began as they sat at the kitchen table. "If you're going to be looking after my boys and that sweet little Sakura, you will sure as hell do a good job of it."

"You've met Sakura?" Kakashi attempted to divert the conversation. Kushina was apparently having none of it.

"Don't divert. Listen, Kakashi-kun, I know you much better than you think. You're an excellent shinobi and a loyal friend, but you've never put any effort into teaching before. I know it's hard for you, but you're going to have to work with that, because it's your job to turn three naive kids into genuinely tough shinobi. You can't do that if you miss half the training session!"

Thankfully, there was no real anger in Kushina's voice, but Kakashi could tell she was serious, so he dropped the defensive act and considered her seriously.

"I won't let any more of my comrades die." Kakashi told her. Kushina's eyes softened a little.

"I know." she agreed. "But that isn't enough. You won't always be there to protect them, just as I won't always be there to protect Naruto. I've learnt that now, and so should you. Teach them to protect themselves, and to protect each other. Make them formidable, Kakashi-kun, just as your team was."

Kakashi wanted to reply, but he couldn't find the words. Thankfully, Kushina seemed to understand, as she always had. They sat in silence for a little while longer, until Kakashi finally rose, and let himself out.

On the way to the doorway, he turned back.

"Would you tell Naruto and Sasuke to be at training field three at seven am tomorrow?" he asked. Kushina grinned.

"Sure."

As he made his way home, Kushina's words ran through Kakashi's head over and over. _Teach them to protect themselves, and to protect each other. Make them formidable. Just as your team was._

Formidable. Yes, Kakashi decided, he could create a formidable team. Hell, he could create a downright terrifying team. But for that, his genin needed a lot of training.

* * *

"...Kakashi-sensei?"

To say that Sakura was confused to open her door to an (even more pensive than usual) Kakashi-sensei would be an understatement. Yet there he was, standing just slightly too far back from the door for the distance to be comfortable. She stood awkwardly at the door for a moment before her ingrained set of manners kicked in.

"Would you like to come in?" she asked politely, offering him a tentative smile.

"No, no, I just have a message." her sensei replied. At that moment, Sakura's mother joined her at the door and offered the copy nin a smile.

"Good afternoon, Kakashi-sensei. How are you, today?" she asked. It was easy for Kakashi to see where Sakura had learnt her social etiquette from. Unfortunately for Kakashi, his own people skills were a little rusty. Living amongst shinobi, many of the social rules were brushed aside in favour of communication that was quick and to the point - after all, they wouldn't save your life in the middle of a battlefield, and old habits died hard. Civilians were quite different, however, and he'd always had to forcefully remind himself how to behave amongst 'normal' people, who weren't assessing the best way to kill him should the situation arise.

"Ah, I'm well." he replied quickly, before turning his attention back to the pink-haired girl. "Sakura, we'll begin training as a team tomorrow morning. Be there at seven am. Training ground three." he relayed his message as quickly as he could. Unsure of whether to address Sakura's mother again, Kakashi went for his fall-back option and simply shunshined away.

In Kakashi's absence, Mebuki stared at the ground where he'd been standing a moment before.

"Are all shinobi that strange?" she murmured aloud, glancing at her daughter. Sakura shrugged.

"Kakashi-sensei's the weirdest I've met so far." she replied with a sigh, closing the front door. _That's the understatement of the century,_ Sakura thought. If her mother only knew.

* * *

"Morning."

Team Seven startled collectively at the sound of their sensei's voice behind them. It was almost pitiful, Kakashi observed, how slowly his three charges reacted. Sasuke was the quickest to spin around, but not by much. Kami, if he'd wanted to kill them, he could have done it in seven hundred different ways by now. This was going to be tough work.

"Right," Kakashi stepped forwards, clapping his hands together with a cheer he still wasn't sure he felt. "Your performance the other day was pitiful. From now on, we will be training to bring you all up to a higher standard." His genin stared back at him with wide eyes as he surveyed them, deciding which one to start with. His visible eye settled on the black haired Uchiha.

"Sasuke, your taijutsu is the most developed," he began. "However, you're still not up to standard. Many Uchiha master taijutsu after awakening their sharingan, but since you haven't done so yet, we're going to focus on your technique and accuracy. Besides, you don't know if you'll be able to rely on your sharingan in the future, so you should always be prepared to rely on your own taijutsu skills. Until I'm satisfied with that, we won't work on ninjutsu. Actually, that applies for all of you."

After a moment, the Uchiha gave him a quick nod. If Kakashi had been a less restrained kind of person, perhaps he would have smiled - a subtle change in Sasuke's attitude was showing already. As it was, Kakashi just nodded in reply, allowing a hint of approval to enter his visible eye.

He turned to Sakura next.

"Your records clearly show that your intelligence is high." he observed. "One day, that intelligence will come in very handy for you and your team, especially in terms of strategy and genjutsu. I can picture you being the tactical expert of this team. According to the Academy, your katas are quite fluid. However, your physical performance is the worst on the team in terms of speed and stamina." Privately, Kakashi waited for the pout or indignant cry which he was secretly expecting. To his surprise, there wasn't one. Sakura nodded and stared back at him resolutely. There wasn't a hint of arrogance in her eyes, he realised.

"That means that your physical conditioning will be harsher than the two boys." he continued. "Most importantly, we'll be focussing on your reflexes and speed. I won't accept any weak links on my team."

"Hai, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura replied clearly. Kakashi suppressed a small smile once again. Yes, he could see her being very important to this team.

"Uzumaki." The blonde kid looked up quickly, a question clear on his face. "Your taijutsu is passable - it's obvious you and Sasuke have the same style, probably from training together."

Naruto nodded. Kami, he looked so much like Minato-sensei.

"Your chakra reserves are easily the biggest in this team, and we can use that to our advantage. Eventually, I want to try a style of taijutsu which uses chakra to enhance speed. Before we can do that, though, you'll undertake the same physical conditioning as the rest of the team. You won't always be able to rely on your chakra, and that's a situation I want you all to be prepared for."

Naruto grinned. With a discerning eye, Kakashi surveyed his new team once more.

"I've taught you your first lesson, and that lesson won't ever stop being important. Teamwork is paramount." he fixed his gaze on each of them in turn. "The next lesson is survival. I was once told that the purpose of being a shinobi is to endure. I will train you all to be experts in enduring. I expect you to work hard. I won't accept excuses for slackness."

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei." The chorus of assent surprised him. The jounin didn't show it, of course, but he'd expected a team of brats. All the genin he'd had short teaching stints with before had been that way. But in all honesty, this team wasn't as bad as he'd thought they would be. He could sense a subtle change in them all, even since he'd met them a few days previously.

The day wore on as the three genin grew increasingly exhausted. Kakashi started by making them run. They ran for hours, forcing their legs to continue moving long after their muscles began to cramp and their bodies began to scream in protest. It had been four hours of continuous running by the time their sensei called their first break. He had barely broken a sweat, the bastard.

Sakura collapsed straight to the ground, trying and failing to hold back her dry retching as her body convulsed. She was grateful that no one said anything, though that could have been due to Sasuke and Naruto's own breathing problems. Of the three of them, Naruto had fared the best, though Sasuke was clearly too proud to admit his own exhaustion.

Despite their obvious exhaustion, Kakashi-sensei only gave them a ten minute water break before instructing them to get back on their feet. For a terrifying moment, Sakura thought he might tell them to begin running again. Thankfully (and she did thank Kami) he'd clearly decided that they'd run far enough for the day; they moved on to strength exercises, and then sparring.

"Sasuke and Naruto, you're up first." Kakashi instructed. He spared a quick glance at Sakura, who looked immensely grateful not to have to spar first.

The two boys leapt into the fight with vigour. As far as Kakashi could tell, they were quite evenly matched - what Naruto lacked in speed, he more than made up for in stamina. So much so, in fact, that although he was hit more in the first twenty minutes of the match, once Sasuke began to tire, Naruto quickly took the upper hand. Their fighting style was very similar. It was clear that they'd both incorporated elements of the Academy's teachings into their style, but a lot of the movements were achingly familiar to Kakashi. He realised with a pang that Obito had used to fight in that way. Sasuke had taught Naruto a unique version of the Uchiha taijutsu style.

Eventually, Kakashi called it as a draw. The expressions of focus on the boys' faces quickly turned to a satisfied grin in Naruto's case, and even Sasuke smirked.

"You're up, Sakura." Kakashi nodded. "Naruto."

The blonde grinned, quickly slipping back into a fighting stance.

"Let's go, Sakura-chan."

Sakura took a deep breath, focusing her chakra on her core to maintain her balance. In her final year at the Academy, Sakura had begun to request extra reading - nothing too complex, mostly just learning the theory behind genjutsu and basic sealing. In one scroll which Iruka sensei had given her, she'd come across a technique called chakra balance - something which was only recommended for those with near-perfect chakra control. And if there was one thing Sakura excelled in, it was chakra control. The technique worked on the principle that someone with excellent chakra control could use their chakra to provide a perfect sense of balance without losing focus during a fight. It had been one of the only things which Sakura took initiative with in terms of taijutsu, but since she'd learnt it, her sparring had become significantly better.

As the spar began, Sakura put her energy into avoiding and blocking Naruto's blows. She much preferred to get an idea of her opponent before going on the offensive herself, and as she and Naruto fought, she quickly noticed something. He wasn't using nearly as much force on her as he had been on Sasuke. In fact, as she purposely let one of his punches glance off her arm, she realised that he was holding back.

Sakura was a little surprised by her own anger. She'd never thought of herself as particularly strong when it came to taijutsu, so why was she so annoyed that Naruto wasn't fighting her with the same intensity? The answer came to her quickly. She was annoyed because he was babying her. He clearly had no qualms about giving Sasuke a black eye, so why should it be any different with her?

As Naruto came at her with another pulled punch, Sakura felt her pride take over. Fine. If that was how it was going to be, she was going to kick his ass.

His punch was slightly too wide, aimed at glancing off her shoulder rather than doing any real damage to her chest. That was his mistake. His swing left a large gap in his guard, and Sakura used the opportunity to duck beneath the punch and step closer to him rather than away. She wasn't very strong, she knew, but she threw all her weight behind her blow anyway, and drove her elbow into his diaphragm, hard.

As Naruto bent over in shock, instinctively reaching for his stomach, Sakura ducked down to the ground, using her chakra to balance herself as she swept Naruto's legs out from underneath him.

There was a moment of shocked silence as Naruto crashed to the ground, winded. Sakura stepped back, also breathing heavily. For a moment, no one said anything.

Then came Kakashi's quiet chuckle. The three genin turned to Kakashi-sensei with widened eyes. It was the first time they'd heard anything remotely resembling a laugh from their sensei, and frankly, it was mildly terrifying.

"Ah, Naruto, it looks like you fell for the oldest trick in the book." Kakashi grinned beneath his mask, rubbing the back of his neck. "Underestimating the kunoichi. Although I have to say, I didn't really expect that either. Who taught you to use your chakra that way?" he asked Sakura as she helped Naruto to his feet.

"No one." the kunoichi replied, feeling a little uncomfortable under the gaze of the rest of her team. "I read about it and taught myself."

Kakashi nodded slowly.

"Interesting." he murmured. "Okay. That's enough, I think we'll call it a day. We'll meet at the same time tomorrow. Don't be late." And with that said, the jounin disappeared in a shunshin, leaving his genin to stare at the space where he'd been standing only a second before.

"Sakura-chan! That was awesome! Er, sorry about holding back there." Naruto added sheepishly as soon as their sensei was gone. Sakura flushed, looking away.

"It's okay." she replied, trying to find something to focus on that didn't make her feel like she was being scrutinized.

Unfortunately, her gaze flickered to Sasuke's, which was no less disconcerting of an experience. Especially when the Uchiha gave her what she could have called an approving nod, and began to lead the team back to the village.

* * *

Team Seven fell into a strict training pattern over the next few weeks. They woke up early in the mornings and completed D-rank missions around the village - something which the team had originally accepted rather reluctantly, but after a decent scolding from Kakashi-sensei about 'learning the groundwork' and 'village income' they had stopped complaining. Once their missions were completed, they had a half hour break before training began, which usually consisted of the three of them getting food and water into them as quickly as possible before heading to the training grounds. As the weeks went by, Sakura began to feel more and more a part of the team; although she still didn't always understand the boys' inside jokes, they included her in their conversations, in their own ways. Naruto was decidedly less subtle than Sasuke about it, but even the Uchiha sometimes redirected the conversation to prompt Sakura to join in.

Training itself was brutal. Their sensei was adamant that they would not rely solely on chakra to make them more powerful; they would have to start with the basics of physical conditioning, and train with chakra only once their physical exercises were done for the day. Every day they ran for hours, often without stopping for breaks, followed by strength and flexibility exercises. After that, they would practice sparring, and once they were too tired to fight one another seriously, Kakashi-sensei would drill them through katas until the three genin could perform them in their sleep. He also began to run them through a range of combination attacks. Although they were largely ineffective against the copy nin himself, he had praised them at one point on their initiative in attempting a weak genjutsu to distract him while they attacked.

Although the genin would return home exhausted every night, their bodies were adapting quickly to the training. They no longer found themselves collapsing after the run, and their spars were becoming faster and more intense. Though Sakura hadn't won another spar since that first day, her actual technique was quickly becoming the best in the team, and Kakashi had been quick to pick up the little flaws in her chakra balance technique and help her to perfect it. Naruto's speed had quickly become formidable - for once Kakashi-sensei had become satisfied that the kid had enough stamina, he'd begun to teach him to enhance his blows with chakra for increased speed. Kakashi-sensei had explained to him that the chakra necessary to maintain the speed was huge, but if he could use it to his advantage early on in a fight, he may not even need to tap into his vast reserves of chakra.

Sasuke hadn't anticipated what Kakashi would offer him. After he'd won a particularly drawn out match against Naruto, Kakashi had regarded him for a second before offering to teach him more of the Uchiha taijutsu style. Sasuke had struggled to remain composed at that point.

"How do you know the Uchiha style?" he'd asked warily. His own knowledge of the style was only rudimentary; his parents had been killed before they could begin to teach him any advanced taijutsu.

"I had an Uchiha on my genin team." was all Kakashi-sensei would say on the matter. Despite the mystery surrounding that statement, Sasuke had readily accepted the offer, and had since risen to the challenge with fervor.

All in all, Kakashi didn't mind his new genin team. It was obvious they were building a strong friendship between the three of them, and he was secretly glad. He'd noticed with some approval that after their first training session, the boys had taken to walking Sakura-chan home before heading back to the Uzumaki residence themselves. In a way it was painful, because their dynamic reminded him of his own genin team, but it wasn't the same pain he felt when standing before the memorial - rather, it reminded him of the growing pains he'd used to get as a kid. Growth was good, he'd learnt. Painful, but good. There was no way the three of them could know that they were making him feel those things, in their own way, but he was secretly grateful to them regardless.

About a month after Team Seven had formed, they turned up to training to find Kakashi-sensei reading his Icha Icha novel next to a large amount of weapons, spread out over an unrolled scroll as big as Kakashi-sensei himself.

"Ah, there you are." Kakashi looked up as they arrived. The genin collectively decided it was better not to ask about the weapons. No doubt he'd tell them. "Today we're going to begin weapons training." Kakashi answered their question for them, as they'd suspected. "Each of you, pick a weapon you'd like to specialise in."

Kakashi watched as they took in the assortment of weapons compiled in front of them. Naruto was the first to choose, opting for the traditional kunai. Kakashi approved; Naruto was a close range fighter, and the kunai was one of the better weapons to use during taijutsu.

Sasuke picked up several shuriken of varying sizes, flicking them around his fingers without seeming to notice what he was doing. Clearly, Kakashi realised, this was a weapon he'd had experience with before. Kakashi threw the Uchiha a coil of wire as well.

"I can teach you combination attacks with the shuriken and the wire together." he explained. Sasuke nodded in understanding.

Sakura was the biggest surprise. He'd expected her to copy one of the boys, as she didn't have any experience with weapons, as far as he knew. Instead, she gazed at the weapons for a minute before striding decisively to the far end of the spread and picking up a bundle of razor sharp senbon.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her. She stared resolutely back.

"Okay." Kakashi-sensei nodded, bending down to seal the rest of the weapons back inside the scroll. "Don't think you three are getting out of any physical training today. From now on, weapons practice will be an extra hour added to each training session. I expect you all to stay later from now on. Let's get started. Naruto, you're up first."

* * *

It was a few more weeks before Kakashi decided to start ninjutsu training. His charges leapt into the training with a vigour previously unheard of from the three. When he'd first announced that they could now add ninjutsu into their training regimen, even Sasuke had managed a small smile. However, as in all things lately, Kakashi insisted on starting with the basics. First came tree walking, which Sakura excelled at. She quickly gave the boys some pointers, however, and pretty soon all three of them were running up and down trees as if the laws of gravity didn't apply to them.

Next came a much more precise form of chakra control - water walking. The genin found that much harder - even Sakura with her perfect chakra control couldn't maintain the technique for long.

What really interested the genin, however, was when Kakashi-sensei began to teach them individual techniques. He decided to continue training Sasuke in katon style techniques, and after incorporating Sasuke's talent with wire into the equation, the kid had himself a fairly decent technique which relied on trapping the opponent with the wires and setting them on fire from a distance. It was perfect for ambushes and combination attacks with the other members of his team.

Naruto, with his large chakra reserves, was the perfect candidate for large-scale elemental jutsu. A quick test revealed that Naruto was wind-natured, which was unfortunately Kakashi's weakest element. However, he gave the boy some D and C-rank cutting wind techniques and let Naruto work his way through them. The blonde was a surprisingly quick learner, with a unique way of thinking through problems. Kakashi-sensei had high hopes for him.

Sakura was a bit more of a problem. Her chakra reserves weren't nearly as large as the boys', and this made it difficult for her to perform elemental jutsu.

"Kakashi-sensei, I'm trying to mould as much as I can, but I feel like I'm at the end of my limits." Sakura panted out during a particularly tough ninjutsu session. She had been trying for an hour to create a mizu bunshin out of the bucket of water Kakashi-sensei had brought to training, but so far she'd only managed a weak, transparent clone. She was tired, and frustrated.

Kakashi regarded her for a moment.

"Okay." he decided after a moment. "We'll come back to ninjutsu with you - I think it's time you started learning genjutsu. How would you like to become a menace?"

Sakura grinned.


End file.
